Great time to be a bankruptcy lawyer

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Scott Jagow: This is an obvious sign of the economic times:
The bankruptcy industry is having a great year. Today, the American Bankruptcy Institute holds its annual meeting. As Jeff Tyler reports, those bigger profits are bittersweet.

Jeff Tyler: Giving counsel to failing business owners comes with an emotional toll.

Jack Williams: You know what you need to do as a professional. But as a fellow human being, it’s a very difficult thing to do. And it’s done not without stress.

That’s Jack Williams, a law professor at Georgia State University and the American Bankruptcy Institute’s scholar-in-residence. He believes the worst is still to come, since bankruptcies often lag two to three-quarters behind an economic downturn. Williams says bankruptcy law and accounting firms are hiring in a hurry.

Williams: You’re seeing some large national and international firms that are doubling their bankruptcy practice, anticipating a significant spike in predominantly business bankruptcy fillings.

This year, Williams expects we’ll see more than a million bankruptcies.

I’m Jeff Tyler for Marketplace.